Penn State addresses shooting woes with addition of Brant Byers

The rebuilding process for the Penn State men’s basketball program has taken another step. Brant Byers, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound junior guard from Miami (Ohio), will continue his career at Penn State via the transfer portal, Blue White Illustrated has confirmed.

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress reported the news first.

With his addition, the Nittany Lions can expect improvement in a particularly damaging deficiency from this past season. Over 34 games with the RedHawks, Byers shot 39.2 percent from 3-point range, averaging 2.0 makes per game on 5.2 attempts to go along with 14.2 points per game.

Compared to a Penn State roster that struggled to knock down shots from beyond the arc with consistency, Byers represents an upgrade in both efficiency and volume by a sizable margin. The Nittany Lions finished No. 271 nationally, shooting 32.4 percent from deep with an average of 6.9 makes per game, also ranked 271st.

“Inside-outside threes, kick-out, or one-more threes, transition threes. When you’re open and you sort of tee it up, they’re the ones we’ve got to make. Sometimes when the shot clock winds down, you have to fire one up. Or maybe someone makes a great contest coming out of nowhere, and it becomes a little bit harder,” Rhoades said during the heart of the Big Ten schedule. “Not to put pressure on our guys, but that’s basketball. We’re kicking it to you, or a one-more to you, or you’re the guy off a ball screen — if you’re open, you’ve got to knock them down.

“That’s part of the game. That’s the responsibility to get in the gym, work on your game, and get extra shots before and after practice so you feel good. But yeah, we’ve got to make them. We’ve got to make more of them.”

Byers helped lead the RedHawks to the NCAA Tournament this past season, starting all but one game and averaging 30.8 minutes per outing. He shot 47.8 percent from the field and added 4.1 rebounds per game.

Byers joins the Sunday pledge of Central Connecticut State guard Jay Rodgers, plus international small forwards Roko Prkačin and François Wibaut. Combined with the return of big man Ivan Juric, Penn State now has five scholarship-level players for its 2026-27 roster. 

Where things stand for Penn State

Guards Jay Rodgers, Reggie Grodin, Brant Byers
Wings Roko Prkačin, François Wibaut, Chris Lotito, Jamison White
Bigs Ivan Juric, Sasa Ciani, Tibor Mirtic